The NBA trade deadline is today, Feb. 10 at 3 PM EST. Before we get there however rumors are popping up everywhere you look. One of the more unique ones we’ve heard today involves Philadelphia 76ers star forward Tobias Harris.
If the rumors about James Harden wanting a trade away from the Brooklyn Nets are to be taken at face value, then the Sixers moving Harris makes sense. Due to the salaries already on the payroll, the Sixers can’t afford to take back Harden’s $44.3M salary for the rest of the 2021-22 NBA season without shedding some money elsewhere first.
Because of this, they would have to trade Harris to another team before finalizing any Ben Simmons for James Harden trade.
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Could the Sixers exit the trade deadline without Tobias Harris next to Joel Embiid?
The Sixers could look to trade Tobias Harris before the deadline in an effort to clear cap space to pursue Harden in free agency if he decides to decline his player option for the 2022-23 season.
In fact, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the organization had conversations with the Oklahoma City Thunder about essentially salary dumping Harris to OKC.
But that doesn’t seem likely unless they land Harden ahead of the deadline due to their desire to compete.
Right now the 76ers are in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, all without any contribution from Ben Simmons. They likely wouldn’t trade their other star in Harris, leaving Joel Embiid all by himself trying to get further than last season’s East Conference Semifinals.
Instead, if the Sixers make a move, it will likely be considered a move to buy, not sell ahead of the deadline. Who knows, they just might pull off the big Simmons-Harden trade we’ve heard so much about for the past several months.
